


The Dupain Cheng Home for Wayward Kittens

by Jarl_Deathwolf



Series: Adrien AUGreste 2020 [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien AUGreste 2020, Balcony Scene, Fluff, Gen, Good Parents Sabine Cheng & Tom Dupain, Light Angst, Well - ATTEMPTED balcony scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26181757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jarl_Deathwolf/pseuds/Jarl_Deathwolf
Summary: On the tail end of a bad day, Chat Noir was hoping to be cheered up by his favorite civilian. But it wasn't Marinette who opened the skylight that night.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain
Series: Adrien AUGreste 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869955
Comments: 44
Kudos: 169





	The Dupain Cheng Home for Wayward Kittens

**Author's Note:**

> This week's prompt was Chat Noir and the daily prompts that I used were Cat in the Night, Just Because, and Bakery. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Not even a minute had passed between Nathalie closing the door behind her and Adrien transforming into Chat Noir. Just before he clambered out the window, he made sure his door was locked.

He knew there wouldn’t be a good chance of anyone coming in later that night, and that was on after a normal day. But after the long, grueling day they’d all just gotten through? There was no chance. Nathalie, the Gorilla, his father - none of them would have the energy to micromanage him now. 

A big grin spread across Chat Noir’s face as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, feeling the weight he’d been carrying fall off of him. After a long day of being shuttled from one photoshoot to another, he was thrilled to finally have a chance to just _run_. To stretch his legs, feel the wind in his hair without his father chiding him for making the stylist’s job even harder. 

Chat’s smile soured as not even running across rooftops was enough to dismiss the memory of his father taking a personal hand in today’s photoshoots. They were bad enough usually - a bunch of people fussing over him, sitting in one place for long stretches of time, faking emotions that he had to hold until the muscles in his face started to grow sore. But adding his father into the mix? Famous for being an unpleasable perfectionist?

Nothing was enough. They could’ve done three photoshoots in the time it took them to do one with Gabriel Agreste at the helm. And Adrien didn’t even get to have the loud and energetic atmosphere that usually accompanied those shoots. There were no exclamations of ‘mama’s spaghetti’ this time. Just the eerie silence that Gabriel demanded for his work.

The worst part? The photos didn’t even look all that better from what Adrien could see. Not that anyone would dare tell his father that. Even _Adrien_ wouldn’t tell him that since his father’s hairpin trigger of a temper was about as well known as his perfectionism.

It was with a pout that Chat Noir sat down on the rooftop he found himself on, arms crossed and hunched over in just a way that he could imagine his father berating him for doing it. Which gave him some satisfaction but it was still no cure for his bad mood. 

An idea suddenly occurred to him, which brought a smile to his face. There was one thing that never failed to cheer him up. Well, less a thing and more a person.

Standing up, Chat Noir made his way toward the Dupain-Cheng bakery, hoping that Marinette would still be up by now.

\------------

Chat Noir knocked on the skylight and waited, crouched next to it like his namesake. His tail swished back and forth behind him, arced high in excitement as he waited for Marinette to respond. It was the weekend so she wasn’t studying. There hadn’t been any homework recently. It wasn’t super late into the night, so she should still be awake - even though he knew she tended to stay up later than she should. 

His stomach grumbled - would it be rude of him to ask for pastries immediately, or should he wait until they got the pleasantries out of the way first? He fidgeted nervously in place as it took longer than usual for Marinette to answer his knocking. Had he accidentally woken her? Should he not have come in the first place?

Light poured out from the slowly opening skylight, pushing away any his doubts and returning his previous good mood. 

“Marinette! I was hoping you were-” His words got stuck in his throat when he realized that he wasn’t talking to Marinette. Sure, there were similarities - hair color and complexion and such - but this woman was much older than his classmate. 

Sabine Cheng blinked up at him in bemusement.

“Hello Chat Noir,” Sabine said slowly, cautiously. “I don’t mean to insinuate anything, but is there a reason you are visiting my daughter’s bedroom at such a late hour?”

It took a moment for what she was saying to click in Chat’s head, but when it did his face heated up and a blush spread across his face. He stumbled backwards, falling from his crouch and landing clumsily on his rear. 

“I- No, that’s not- We’re just friends is all!”

Sabine was still watching him cautiously through half-lidded eyes.

“Honest!” He looked down and grabbed his tail only to begin wringing it in his hands. “We eat some croissants - very tasty by the way, you’re great bakers - and talk and she listens when I complain and its just…” He swallowed heavily and glanced back up at her. “...It’s nice.”

Sabine’s face softened. “Sorry, dear. Marinette went over to her best friend’s for a sleepover. I’m just up here taking her laundry hamper downstairs.”

“Ah, so she’s at Alya’s then,” Chat said, hunching his shoulders. Talking to Marinette alone is one thing, but having more people there felt like he couldn’t open up as much. Not to mention that the other person being ALya meant that there was no guarantee that what he said wouldn’t end up on the Ladyblog. “I guess I’ll just go home then.”

His stomach growled, which coaxed a smirk from Sabine.

“Do you want to come inside, dear?” A twinkle of mirth shone in her eyes. “The pastries aren’t from Marinette but I _have_ been told that I’m a great baker.”

Chat Noir debated on it for just a moment before his stomach growled even louder than before. Swallowing his pride, he said, “Yes, ma’am.”

\--------------------

Was it the superheroics combined with being a growing boy that made him so hungry? Or was there something going on at home?

Before tonight, Sabine would have assumed it was the former, but after having Chat Noir happily chattering away for the past half an hour, she wasn’t so sure. 

Sure, she could take him at face value when he says that he is getting enough food at home. And while he might deny it, he is still unquestionably a child - there was no doubt in Sabine’s mind that he wasn’t much older than Marinette, if he even was older. So high metabolism might have something to do with it.

But then again… he didn’t speak of his home life fondly. She’d seen the look on his face when he thought he’d have to go straight home instead of visiting with Marinette. There was no excitement - just a quiet dread. As if getting away and staying away was all he wanted. 

Tom passed him a mug of hot chocolate to go with Chat Noir’s plate of croissants. While the young hero brought it up to his lips, Tom saddled up onto one of the chairs opposite him. Tom shared a look of concern with her while Chat Noir wasn’t paying attention.

“So… rough day, son?”

Chat put down the mug and tilted his head curiously. “What makes you say that, sir?” 

And such a nice young man too! Sabine could see why Marinette might take a shine to him.

“Folks don’t usually run around the city at night if they had a good day.”

“Well there was that time you ran out into the rain, sweetheart.”

“True,” Tom replied to her. “But the most wonderful woman in the world had just said ‘yes’ to my proposal, so I think that gives me a little leeway.”

“Flatterer,” Sabine said with a smile. 

“Always.” Tom turned back to Chat Noir, still grinning. “So what’s got you down, son?”

Chat Noir looked down into his mug, gently swirling the hot chocolate. Just when Sabine thought Tom would have to repeat his question, Chat Noir spoke up.

“It’s my father.”

Sabine raised an eyebrow. That seemed overly formal for a father-son relationship.

“What about him?”

“Oh, he was just keeping me busy all day is all,” Chat Noir said, still looking into his swirling chocolate. “Nothing all that important.”

It was a slow process, but they managed to coax a few more details from him. Absent or missing mother. Distant father. Some sort of job that his father had him do. But at his age? It all seemed rather fishy. 

Once they had said their goodbyes and sent him home with a bulging bag of baked goods, the two of them sat quietly in their kitchen, far later than they usually were up.

“It’s not right, Tom.” Sabine finally broke the silence.

“No doubt about it.” Tom sighed. “But what can we do, really? There’s nothing that can be done without knowing who he is.”

“Then that’s where we have to start.”

He blinked in stunned silence. “Sabine, you don’t mean…?”

She nodded resolutely. “Tom, we need to find out who Chat Noir is. That’s the only way we’ll be able to get him the help he needs.”

**Author's Note:**

> And so ends the last of the six months of daily prompts, starting way back in March. It has been a fun and at times stressful journey, but I'm proud to look back at all the stories I've told because of it. I hope you enjoyed these last few months and I hope you'll keep an eye out for the next fic, whatever that might be!


End file.
